United Bankshares (Nasdaq: UBSI) came in right in line with the Street's expectations last quarter, but investors are hoping that it will beat them this quarter. The company will unveil its latest earnings on Monday, Oct. 31. United Bankshares is a bank holding company which, through its subsidiaries, offers a range of commercial and retail banking services and products.

What analysts say:

  • Buy, sell, or hold?: Analysts think investors should stand pat on United Bankshares with eight of 10 analysts rating it hold. Analysts don't like United Bankshares as much as competitor First Citizens BancShares overall. One out of one analysts rate First Citizens BancShares a buy compared to two of 10 for United Bankshares. Analysts still rate the stock a hold, but they are a bit more wary about it compared to three months ago.
  • Revenue Forecasts: On average, analysts predict $88.6 million in revenue this quarter. That would represent a rise of 16.4% from the year-ago quarter.
  • Wall Street Earnings Expectations: The average analyst estimate is earnings of $0.41 per share. Estimates range from $0.38 to $0.46.

What our community says:
The majority of CAPS All-Stars see UBSI as a good bet, with 66.7% assigning it an "outperform" rating. The majority of the Fools are in agreement with the All-Stars, with 71.2% giving it an "outperform" rating. Fools are keen on United Bankshares, though the message boards have been quiet lately with only 26 posts in the past 30 days. Despite the majority sentiment in favor of United Bankshares, the stock has a middling CAPS rating of three out of five stars.

Management:
United Bankshares' profit has risen year over year by an average of 13.5% over the past five quarters. Revenue has fallen in the past two quarters.

Now let's look at how efficient management is at running the business. Traditionally, margins represent the efficiency with which companies capture portions of sales dollars. The following table shows net margins over the past four quarters. 

Quarter Q2 Q1 Q4 Q3
Net Margin 19.4% 20.2% 19.2% 18.1%
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